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And Ovitz Lived Happily Ever After (Int'l Edition)

January 26, 1997

International -- Readers Report

AND OVITZ LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER (int'l edition)

Your commentary had me slightly perplexed--reading that Michael Ovitz had fallen from the pinnacle of the entertainment mountain. I just don't see it that way ("A reporter confesses: How I got spun by Mike Ovitz," American News, Dec. 30).

There is an implication that Michael Ovitz walked away the loser from Walt Disney Co. But Disney is the loser. Disney lost a man with entertainment insight, who not only can make a great deal but can also close one. Ovitz left Disney with $90 million in cash and stock--for 14 months of work. Compare that with IBM's Chairman Louis V. Gerstner Jr., who made $80 million in stock after three years of work.

Ovitz proved again his great deal-making abilities.

Pedro Sotelo

Carolina, P.R.Return to top

`I JUST CAN'T SURVIVE IN THIS SERVICE ECONOMY' (int'l edition)

Free trade hurts unskilled workers like me ("The new economy needs free trade," Editorials, Dec. 30). The U.S. needs restrictions to protect the manufacturing jobs of the unskilled, or we will live a horrible life of low-paying jobs and continuous poverty. I just can't survive in this service economy.